First things firstly, congrats to Katie R. for winning the most recent giveaway of Expecting: A Year of Fixing Up & Breaking Down! (Watch your mailbox for it- it’ll be marvy! Also, how awesome is mail mail? <—Awesome.)
In other news, my friend Sara had the brilliant idea to institute Screen-Free Sundays starting this weekend. Since we had each just had a beer, this Saturday night proclamation didn’t seem too lofty a goal. (“Yeah, let’s make it every day! And throw out our phones, too!”)
In reality, it was hard. But strangely, not as hard as I had feared. I usually grab my phone first thing in the a.m. to a) check the time and b) check the weather. (Why? Why? Look out the window, brain trust!) I didn’t do this yesterday; not because I was being stalwart with my new goal, but because Susannah appeared at my bedside at 6 a.m., covered in poop. (Cooooovered.) Patiently- ridiculously patiently- I showered her off, Hazmatted her bed and surrounding zip codes, and reassured her of my continued love. (Maybe being screen-free makes me a nicer morning person? Or maybe I hadn’t fully gotten that beer out of my system?)
The rest of the morning was tricky, as I definitely “phantom thumbed” for my Facebook app more times than I’m confident enough to admit, and I absolutely had moments where I wished I could panic-Google something. Turns out, I’m both lazy and incapable of storing practical knowledge in my own brain. I’m like the mental equivalent of a MacBook Air’s hard drive. (Hard emphasis on “mental.”)
After a few hours, however, I discovered something: Time moves differently when you’re not lost in a screen, I swear to goodness.
The day felt slower, more deliberate, more like a Sunday. So what did I do with all of my newfound hours? Engage in quality time with my preschoolers? Start a practice of mindful meditation which would reshape my days and weeks and one-on-one time with loved ones? NAH. I ignored everyone and organized closets and shelves within an inch of their (non-anthropomorphic) lives. And then I gave P.J. 12 garbage bags and 2 crates of donations to load into the van for me. So yeah, my hands-free Sunday was kind of like P.J.’s “please pick up your phone again” Sunday.
This kid gets me.
Also- I did not take this picture yesterday because SCREEN-FREE.
And YES, I’ll admit it: I cheated twice. After opening my Gmail app and seeing one ping from an editor, I scanned and replied without even reading the first lines of the rest of the digital body count. And then I posted about the end of the giveaway on Facebook/Twitter. But that was it. And it felt good. And it also felt helpful to acknowledge that I am not singlehandedly responsible for keeping the internet running on Sundays. (Although sometimes I feel like I deserve a trophy for Most Assists.)
I fully acknowledge that a) I live on the internet, b) I owe a goodly portion of my career successes to the internet, and c) I enjoy both a and b. But baby steps like this? They feel like a much-needed hard reset. (Let’s just keep this MacBook Air metaphor going and going, shall we?) I felt ready for Monday. I felt ready to answer emails like a pleasant human being. And I felt ready to fully embrace Screen-Free Sunday next weekend.
Don’t tell P.J.
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